Hyderabad: Ahead of the Jubilee Hills Assembly by-election to be held on November 11, the election authorities are closely reviewing the arrangements to ensure smooth and transparent voting.

According to Hyderabad District Election Officer (DEO), the authorities have taken up comprehensive measures at polling stations and security measures, including 24/7 surveillance. The DEO RV Karnan said that all arrangements have been completed across 407 polling stations for the by-election.

RV Karnan said, “The Jubilee Hills constituency has 4,01,365 registered voters, and to facilitate smooth polling, a total of 407 polling stations have been set up across 139 locations.”

The DEO said that 58 candidates are in the fray, and with the inclusion of NOTA, a total of 59 options will be available to voters. “Owing to the large number of candidates, four ballot units will be used at each polling station, making the voting compartment larger than usual,” said RV Karnan.

Given the high number of candidates, each polling station will be equipped with four Ballot Units (BUs) connected in series with a Control Unit (CU) and a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine. In total, 569 Control Units, 2,442 Ballot Units, and 610 VVPATs will be used in the by-election. “We have made all the necessary arrangements to ensure that the polling process is carried out smoothly, transparently, and efficiently,” said the DEO.

The officer said “Accessible VIS with Braille features will be distributed along with the regular slips. Additionally, Dummy Ballot Sheets in Braille will be made available in all polling stations, allowing visually impaired voters to independently cast their votes using Braille-enabled EVMs.”

For conducting the polls, 600 Presiding Officers, 600 Assistant Presiding Officers, and 1,200 Polling Officers will be deployed. Extensive SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) campaigns are being carried out across the constituency to raise voter awareness and increase voter turnout.

Moreover, the Election Commission of India deployed Ranjit Kumar Singh, as General Observer, Om Prakash Tripathy as Police Observer, and expenditure observer Sanjiv Kumar Lal.

To ensure strict implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), dedicated monitoring teams are in action, including 15 Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs) and 15 Flying Squads (FSTs).

The Hyderabad City police are fully prepared to conduct the election in a transparent, peaceful, and free atmosphere and as many as 65 polling stations have been identified as sensitive. The paramilitary forces will be deployed at critical polling stations to maintain security, said a senior police officer.